RAZON’S MORE POWER INVESTING P4B TO UPGRADE POWER SYSTEM IN NEGROS

Razon-led MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power), through its subsidiary Primelectric Holdings Inc., is setting aside about P4 billion to modernize and upgrade the power distribution in central Negros.

In an interview with reporters on Wednesday, MORE Power president and CEO Roel Castro said the Primelectric is earmarking the investment after it sealed a joint venture agreement (JVA) with the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) last week.

“We signed the JVA with CENECO last Saturday, although that will still undergo a referendum this coming June 24 and 25 and July 1 to 2,” Castro said.

“Hopefully, we will get the majority out of the 207,000 members of good standing in CENECO,” he added.

CENECO serves the cities of Bacolod, Bago, Talisay, Silay, and the municipalities of Murcia and Salvador Benedicto in the province of Negros Occidental.

Castro said that the P4 billion investment plan for the Central Negros power system will cover the P2 billion cost of assets purchase and another P2 billion for capital expenditure.

He added that CENECO, once its consumer members approve the JVA with Primelectric, “will have to go to Congress and apply for a new franchise.”

“This way, if the referendum would be a 'yes' and Congress gives the franchise, that gives them another 25 years of continued business,” Castro said.

The MORE Power chief said Primelectric’s investment will be spent on modernizing CENECO’s franchise area, which serves over 200,000 customers.

For her part, Iloilo Rep. Julienne Baronda said other power distributors should follow MORE Power’s refund of its customers’ bill deposits.

MORE Power has set aside P5 million to refund bill deposits of their customers within the year.

A bill deposit refers to a payment made by a consumer at the time of application for their own electric service.

“We call on other distribution utilities to implement the provision of the Magna Carta for Residential Electric Consumers to comply with its mandate for the refund of bill deposits for qualified consumers,” Baronda said.

Under Article 7 of the Magna Carta for residential electric consumers, promulgated by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), distribution utilities need to refund bill deposits after three years or 36 months of paying on time and with no record of disconnection.

Baronda said she will explore the mandate of the Congressional Oversight Committee to look into the records of distribution utilities who have not complied with the bill deposit refund. —NB, GMA Integrated News

This article Razon’s MORE Power investing P4B to upgrade power system in Negros was originally published in GMA News Online.

2023-06-07T18:10:41Z dg43tfdfdgfd